Closeout drill
Basketball drill · Under-11 and up
A defender under the basket passes the ball out to a shooter on the wing and sprints out to guard them. The first two-thirds is a sprint, the last third is short choppy steps with a hand up, and then the shooter attacks. It is the defensive skill that decides whether an open shot gets taken.
Adding it to a session puts it on your run sheet with its time and cue. It does not use up one of your saved plays.
- Time
- 10 minutes
- Players
- 2 at a time: 1 defender and 1 shooter, with a line at each spot
- Equipment
- 1 basket
- 1 or 2 balls per pair
Setup
- Defenders line up under the basket with the ball; shooters line up on the right wing, behind the three-point line.
- The defender passes out to the shooter and immediately closes out.
- The shooter catches and either shoots if the closeout is late, or drives if it is out of control.
- Play it live until a score, a stop or a foul, then rotate: defender to the shooter line, shooter to the defender line.
- Run it from the other wing and from the corners in later sets.
Coaching points
- Sprint the first two-thirds of the distance; the last third is short, quick chop steps.
- Arrive with your weight back and your feet wide, high hand up to contest the shot.
- Stop about an arm's length away. Close enough to bother the shot, far enough to slide with the drive.
- Take away the baseline: on the wing, close out with your outside foot slightly forward.
On the run sheet: Sprint two-thirds, chop the last third, high hand, weight back so you can slide with the drive
Progressions
- Shooter may only shoot on the catch, so the defender has to arrive in time.
- Shooter must drive, so the drill becomes closeout and contain.
- Make it 2-on-2 from a skip pass, so the defender has to close out from the help side.
How it runs
The defender starts under the basket with the ball and passes it out to the shooter on the wing. The moment it leaves their hands they sprint at the shooter, then shorten their steps into a chop over the last few feet so they arrive balanced, high hand up, about an arm's length away. Now the shooter attacks: if the defender arrived late, they shoot; if the defender arrived flying, they drive past. In the animation the closeout is good, the shooter jabs and drives baseline, and the defender slides to cut the drive off.
Play every rep live. A closeout drill where the shooter just stands there teaches defenders to run at people, which is the habit it is supposed to cure.
Why it is one of the most important defensive drills
Most open shots in youth basketball come after a pass, when somebody has to get from help position to the ball. Sprinting gets you there and gets you beaten off the dribble; jogging keeps you balanced and gives up the shot. The closeout is the skill of doing both, and it only becomes automatic through repetition against a shooter who is trying to score.
The mistakes to watch for
Running all the way and flying past the shooter, closing out with both hands down, arriving square so the shooter can go either way, and standing up straight at the end of the chop.
More basketball drills
Put Closeout drill in Tuesday's session
It lands on your practice plan already timed, with the coaching cue printed under it, next to your own plays.
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